


Let's Set Sail on A Life Anew

by KomaruNaegi



Category: Paper Mario: The Origami King, Super Mario & Related Fandoms
Genre: Dialogue Heavy, M/M, Post-Canon, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:41:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27201943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KomaruNaegi/pseuds/KomaruNaegi
Summary: Professor Toad invites his idol, the legendary Khap'taan Teeowed, to read his manuscript about the Khap'taan's adventures.Things work out differently than he had planned.Minor Origami King Spoilers.
Relationships: Captain T. Ode/Professor Toad
Comments: 10
Kudos: 33





	Let's Set Sail on A Life Anew

Perhaps the Professor had gone a bit too far.

He had deep cleaned his entire house from head to toe. Organized all of his many theses. Bought a brand-new coffee maker. The works.

Did he have to do all of this? No. It wasn’t like the Khap’taan would be seeing most of his house anyway—this was a purely scholarly meeting, after all. All the Khap’taan was going to do was read his writings on the ancients, assess their verity, and then he would be on his merry way while the professor got to work revitalizing the fourth edition of his textbook. One could go as far as to say that this was a business meeting.

Even so, Professor Toad found himself unable to contain his excitement. He was never one to talk to himself very often, yet today he could not stop doing so. Everything had to be perfect for the Khap’taan, and if that meant reciting lines as if he were an actor in a play, then so be it.

The professor found himself speaking even louder with his hands, however, eagerly flapping them as the minutes passed. He would be meeting with the Khap’taan Teeowed, after all! Such exciting events didn’t happen every day.

And that was when the doorbell sounded.

* * *

“Good afternoon, Khap’taan!” the Professor greeted, swinging his front door open with energetic force.

The Captain chuckled. “Afternoon to you too, Professor.”

“Oh, please, no need for formalities! I am the younger one here, after all. You can just call me Thomas.”

“Thomas Toad, huh?” the Captain inquired.

“Yes! It’s a bit silly when you put it together like that, but I like it nonetheless,” the Professor explained. “Do come in. I’ve prepared some coffee and cornflakes for you, just as you like them.”

“I eat other foods, you know,” the Captain remarked, entering the threshold of the apartment and stretching his arms. “Nice place you’ve got here.”

“Thank you!” the Professor beams. “It’s a little small, and I’m really hoping to get out of here some day and move into a house, but for now it’s home.”

“A house... you plan on goin' all out just for yourself?”

“Oh, heavens no! While I do appreciate my solitude, I am the type to get lonely after a while. A nice house, someone to share it with... maybe even a cat or a dog to round things out... Ah, but you didn’t come here to listen to little old me! Let me go get the manuscript, I’ll be right back.”

And without a word, the Professor was gone.

Not bothering to try and call him back, the Captain takes a swig of coffee. It’s nice and sweet (just the way he likes it), but the cornflakes are starting to get soggy in the bowl. He stares at them as they float aimlessly about, his mind wandering. In truth, the Captain had no real desire to proofread the Professor’s work. Sure, he was curious about how the other had depicted him, but he didn’t really want that sort of thing published. The world has moved on, after all, and a trove of his tales would only keep him stuck in the past, would it not? And as much as the Professor had insisted his future plans were nothing of note, the Captain couldn’t help but find the Professor’s outlook charming. Sure, the Great Sea was out there, and the Captain was sure she possessed a wealth of treasure, but he found himself not all that bothered to look for it. Years ago he would have been raring to go, but now he found himself still—saturated by all of his adventures, wanting nothing more than to mellow out. 

The whole getting a house and someone to share it with was pretty appealing, now that he thought about it.

“I return!” the Professor announced, a thick stack of stapled papers now gracing the table.

“Welcome back.”

“I do apologize for the length! Academic writing tends to go in circles quite a bit, though I swear I tried to be concise.”

“No worries,” the Captain says, grabbing the manuscript and pulling it across the table. It was more of a story than a manuscript, if anything. It was a recounting of his adventures, after all. There was a small error every few pages or so, but nothing particularly stuck with the Captain. It was clear there was admiration behind it— _love_ , he suppose it could be called, yet he didn’t find himself compelled to keep reading.

“You don’t have to spell it with the ‘K,’ you know,” the Captain muttered, flipping between the pages.

“But I must!” the Professor insisted. “I must do what I can to preserve the language of the ancients, no?”

The Captain chuckled. “You seem like the type of person that'd do that." He then reclined back in his chair, nearly putting his feat on the table only to catch himself last second. "Not that great of a language though. Too hard if you ask me. Ain't hard to see why I get called Captain Tee-oww-d all the time."

"That is no excuse to simply throw history away!" the Professor asserted. "A bit of studying and any fellow would know that the 'O' in your name is of the long variety!"

"Never thought I'd see someone so crazy about my mother tongue," the Captain replied. "You're cute when you get fired up about stuff," he went on, smirking and winking at the yellow-spotted toad across the table.

"Oh, really?" said toad muttered. "I... Why, thank you. No one has ever said that about me before."

"Don't mention it."

With that, their conversation halted. The Professor found himself staring at the clock in an attempt to seem composed as the Captain continued to peruse the manuscript.

Eventually, the silence was broken.

"You want me to write on this or something?"

"Oh!" the Professor exclaimed, "I completely forgot. I was going to ask that you write your corrections in the margins should you need to. I knew I was missing something."

With that the archaeologist got up, retrieving a stool that had been placed in the space between the refrigerator and the cabinets, setting it up to retrieve a small pencil cup on top of the freezer.

"One of these should work."

"On top of the fridge?" the Captain questioned, not breaking eye contact.

"Is there something wrong with that?"

"Just seems like it's really outta the way for just some pens and pencils."

"Ah, you see, that is where I keep the good ones. The high quality ones, if you will. I have to write a lot of notes to keep myself organized, and I can't waste such tools on menial tasks."

"Fair enough, fair enough."

* * *

"Done," the Captain said some twenty minutes later, reordering the pages and straightening them along the desk. "Not sure what you're expecting. I'm not exactly a writer kind of guy."

"Oh that's not a problem. I was moreso asking you to help in the 'content' sort of sense. Surely some editor will have torn this to shreds before it gets sent for publishing."

"Publishing..." the red toad repeated back.

"Frankly, the publishing process is just a lot of haggling," the Professor explained. "There's far too much back and forth before anything gets done."

"Publishing..." the other said once again, as if paying no mind to the Professor.

"Captain?" the Professor asked, alarmed. "Are you alright?"

"Don't worry about me. Just lost in thought."

"Are you sure?" the Professor asked, distraught. "It's probably just anxiety telling me this, but I can't shake the feeling that I've made you upset somehow..."

The Captain sighed. "You're pretty perceptive. Guess you have a right to know what I'm thinkin'."

"What you're thinking, Captain?"

Opting to not respond verbally, the Captain reclined his chair back to normal and stood, pushing it in. He caught himself glancing between the other and the microwave, ultimately standing to the side, as to not look at the other. The Professor gave him a quizzical look.

"I'd rather you didn't publish this, if I'm being honest."

"Is my writing that bad?" the Professor exclaimed, shocked.

"Nah," the red toad started, "it's not you. Or the writing, really. It's just..."

He turned to look at the Professor, who was giving him an expectant look. It hurt the Captain quite a bit seeing the Professor so clearly distraught.

"It's just... how do I put it. I'm over it, I guess you'd say. The looting, the Marino, the sea itself, really. It just doesn't really call out to me the way it used to. The sea is a strange beast, you see...she's moody. Some days she'll shriek and holler at you 'till the cows come home, and other days she's dead quiet. Think I've been hit by one of the quiet spells. She was singing my name for so long, but now, I don't even wanna see her."

It took the Professor a minute to process it all. "So what you're saying is... you've lost interest in exploring?"

"That's one way to put it," the Captain replied. "Maybe sitting in that ice so long got to me. Made me wanna move on."

"I see."

"Plus, word gets out there, and there's gonna be those people out there who start fawning over me, yeah? Treating me like an idol? That's the sort of thing that just keeps you in place. Not really a path I want to see myself going down."

The Professor went silent for a moment. "...Has the way I've treated you been bothering you?"

"You?" the Captain asked incredulously. "Nah. It's almost... endearing when you do that? I think it's kinda nice having one person fawn over me."

"Oh, alright. If you're sure."

"Honest. By the way, what was that you were saying earlier? Getting a house and a pet? Something like that? That sounds nice. Think I'd like to do somethin' like that one day."

"Oh, really?" the Professor chirped, "I'm sure you'll find someone really great to live with!"

"About that..." the Captain murmured, "mind letting me crash here for the night?"

"Huh!?"

"You know those Shangri toads? White spots, wings, togas? They've been giving me a really bad rap. Can't seem to find a place to stay anywhere. Everybody thinks I'm out to steal their stuff."

"Well, I, uh-" the Professor remarked, still caught off guard. "I only have one bed, but I suppose you could sleep on the couch for a night..."

"How big's the bed?"

"A queen. Why do you ask?"

"We could share it."

The Professor went red in the face. "Please quit messing around!"

"Just a suggestion," the other replied, smirking playfully, "it has been getting cold, after all."

"You're right about that, but still..."

With the conversation now less tense, the Captain took the opportunity to walk in place, stretching his arms above his head. "Thanks, by the way. For letting me stay the night."

"Not a problem," the Professor replied. "Happy to have you."

"Guess you could say we're sharing the house," the Captain mused. "Already almost done that mental checklist of yours."

"...I was thinking more of a wife when I said the whole ‘sharing the house’ thing."

"What, am I not wife material?"

The Professor put his head in his hands. "I think I need a nap," he muttered, making his way to his room.

"Alright. Night, hun," the Captain joked, laying it on thick. "See you in a few hours."

The Professor closed his door and proceeded to fall face-first onto his bed.

He had a lot to think about.

**Author's Note:**

> First Profode fic in the tag! Woohoo!
> 
> Speaking of the tag, anyone know why the Origami King fandom tag just redirects to Color Splash? Maybe there's not enough fics for the two to be distinguished yet? Who knows.
> 
> Anyways, did not expect these two to be my main takeaway from this game, Also didn't expect to enjoy this game and its stationery themed bosses as much as I did.
> 
> In regards to this fic however, it didn't really turn out how I wanted in my daydreams, but I got the gist of what I wanted to say out. It's been sitting in my head for weeks, might as well square up and let the rest of the world have at it. As always, criticisms or comments of any kind are highly appreciated. Let me know if you think I should write more toads for whatever reason.


End file.
